1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to ice fishing reel winders and more particularly pertains to a new tool for reeling in a tip up apparatus for added convenience for the user.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of ice fishing reel winders is known in the prior art. More specifically, ice fishing reel winders heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art, which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,777, which teaches a tool for reeling the reel device of a tip up apparatus used for ice fishing which includes a hand grip, a retaining strap and lighting device but the structure defined in the claims would prohibit use with many tip up apparatuses and be generally hard to use with any tip up apparatus with the exception of the tip up apparatus it was designed to be used in conjunction with. The lighting device furthermore cannot focus on the trip rotor or the drive shaft when the device was in use. U.S. Pat. No. 4,962,901 teaches the use of a cordless screw driver as a mechanism for reeling fishing reels but the disclosure limits the device to attaching to a shaft mounted on the reel and not engaging the trip rotor and the cordless screwdriver would have a chuck that is replaceable and prone to loss.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new tool for reeling in a tip up apparatus. The inventive device includes a better-suited motorized drive device with integrated lighting means and a fixed chuck that would engage the trip rotor of a tip-up fishing apparatus. The drive motor device would be sealed to protect it from the wet and cold conditions as are experienced ice fishing. The sealed design would also render the device buoyant in water a feature beneficial, as it will be used near water where recovery of dropped devices is problematical.
In these respects, the tool for reeling in a tip up apparatus according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of providing a more practical and versatile tool for reeling a tip up apparatus for ice fishing.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of ice fishing reel winders now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new tool for reeling in a tip up apparatus construction wherein the same can be utilized for added convenience.
The general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new tool for reeling in a tip up apparatus and method which has many of the advantages of the ice fishing reel winders mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a new tool for reeling in a tip up apparatus which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art ice fishing reel winders, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention generally comprises a drive motor housed in a sealed enclosure with self-contained power supply and lighting device. A permanent non-replaceable chuck designed to engage with a tripping rotor as is generally used in tip up and fishing reel apparatus is connected to the drive motor. The device includes a controls for activating the motor and/or the light. The enclosure is designed to comfortably fit the user""s hand and the control devices are designed so that a person wearing cold weather hand coverings could easily work the controls. The light is directed through a lens to illuminate the area that the chuck engages the trip rotor to provide or other areas of ice fishing work.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new tool for reeling in a tip up apparatus and method which has many of the advantages of the ice fishing reel winders mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a new tool for reeling in a tip up apparatus which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art ice fishing reel winders, either alone or in any combination thereof.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new tool for reeling in a tip up apparatus, which may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new tool for reeling in a tip up apparatus, which is of a durable and reliable construction.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new tool for reeling in a tip up apparatus which is susceptible of a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such tool for reeling in a tip up apparatus economically available to the buying public.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new tool for reeling in a tip up apparatus, which provides in the apparatuses and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new tool for reeling in a tip up apparatus for that improves upon the prior art by enabling a design that conforms to the size, shape and functionality more easily employed for it""s use.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new tool for reeling in a tip up apparatus, which includes a permanently fixed chuck, designed to engage a variety of sizes and types of trip rotors used in the art of fishing reeling devices.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new tool for reeling in a tip up apparatus that can coordinate the functions of reeling in a fishing line and lighting the user""s area of work simultaneously.
Even still another object of the present invention is to provide a new tool for reeling in a tip up apparatus that is sealed against the elements present when ice fishing and to design the tool in such a manner that prevents loss by dropping or in the instance the tool is dropped allows the tool to be easily recoverable.